A Girl of Good Family

Much influenced by Yellow Earth (whose director, Chen Kaige, worked as Huang Jianzhong's assistant on two previous movies), this tale of an arranged marriage between an 18-year-old girl and an infant boy confirms that Chinese cinema has acquired a new candour and readiness to broach 'difficult' material. The girl naturally get the hots for a strapping lad of her own age, pushing the film to a climax that comes straight from traditional melodrama. But most of it is freshly observed, understated, and lushly imagistic.